Warren W. Wiersbe once wrote about the entertainer and
humorist, Will Rogers: “Will Rogers was known for his laughter, but he
also knew how to weep. One day he was entertaining at the Milton H.
Berry Institute in Los Angeles, a hospital that specialized in
rehabilitating polio victims and people with broken backs and other
extreme physical handicaps. Of course, Rogers had everybody laughing,
even patients in really bad condition; but then he suddenly left the
platform and went to the rest room. Milton Berry followed him to give
him a towel; and when he opened the door, he saw Will Rogers leaning
against the wall, sobbing like a child. He closed the door, and in a few
minutes, Rogers appeared back on the platform, as jovial as before.”
Reflecting on
the humor and compassion of Rogers, Wiersbe wrote: “If you want to learn
what a person is really like, ask three questions: What makes him laugh?
What makes him angry? What makes him weep? These are fairly good tests
of character…
What we need
today is not anger but anguish, the kind of anguish that Moses displayed
when he broke the two tablets of the law and then climbed the mountain
to intercede for his people, or that Jesus displayed when He cleansed
the temple and then wept over the city. The difference between anger and
anguish is a broken heart. It's easy to get angry, especially at
somebody else's sins; but it's not easy to look at sin, our own
included, and weep over it.” *
We all have
reasons to experience anguish, “for all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). When our hearts are broken over our
own sins (cf. Psalm 51:1-4), then this godly sorrow should lead us to
repentance (2 Corinthians 7:9-10) and to the Savior (Matthew 11:28-30).
In anguish,
Christ suffered and died on the cross for our sins. “He
Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin
and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter
2:24 ESV). His anguish was an expression of His love for us: a love
that was willing to suffer and die so that we can be saved and receive
the gift of eternal life (Romans 5:6-10).
God will save and give eternal life to those who place their
faith
and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in
repentance
(Acts 17:30-31),
confess
Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are
baptized
(immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). He will
continue to cleanse from sin those who continue to strive to walk in the
light of His Word (1 John 1:7-9).
Wiersbe is
right: “What we need today is not anger but anguish”: anguish over sin
the world, beginning with our own; anguish that will move us to bow in
humble submission to the Savior; and anguish that will motivate us to
share the Good News of Jesus to all of the broken people in the world.
-- David A. Sargent
* Warren W. Wiersbe, The Integrity Crisis, Thomas
Nelson Publishers, 1991, pp. 75-76 as quoted in
www.sermonillustrations.com.
David A. Sargent,
Minister
Church of Christ at Creekwood
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
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